The impact of governance on management research

Abstract

The rigor versus relevance debate of management research is ongoing. We contribute to this discussion by contrasting alternative assumptions about generating management knowledge and linking knowledge generation to academic governance. Specifically, we show that knowledge-by-representation dominates the field and is reinforced by the governance structures and processes guiding our academic management journals, peer review, and business school practices. We propose governance changes in academic publishing to encourage innovative research that may also generate knowledge-by-exemplification with strong ties to management practice.